Continuation of the discussion on the permissible and prohibited forms of brokerage.

The questioner : ... This is a customer by nature, with a discount; for example, you give it to him at the wholesale price. Then another customer comes in, with no discount... Is there a difference in these two transactions? I mean, is this sale permissible in these two transactions at different prices because this one has a discount?

The Shaykh : We said this is permissible. The answer, as we have said repeatedly, is that the profit... if he is confident in you that you are not going to deceive him, that you are not going to take advantage of him, then the profit is not limited and it is permissible. We must pay attention to these details. For example, two men came to you; one you sold to for eight, as I said, and one for ten. Both are strangers to you. You said to the first, "I will sell it to you for ten," so he bargained and you sold it to him for eight. Then another man came who is completely a stranger to you. How much? Ten. You prefer ten; there is no objection. But if someone comes who is confident in you that you are not going to deceive him, you do not take an extra amount from him. If you do, then you have taken advantage of him, and this is not permissible.
The Shaykh: Look, what happens in installment sales? Some people say, "My brother, the profit is fixed." We tell them, "No, it is not fixed." So, if it is not fixed, the one who wants to buy in cash, you make a ten percent profit from him. The one who wants to buy on installments, you make a fifteen percent profit. Why don't you make a fifteen percent profit from the one who wants to buy from you in cash? That is not fixed. If we exploit the fact that the profit is not fixed to facilitate a ruling that contradicts the Shari'ah—meaning taking a return for a debt, which is riba as we have mentioned repeatedly and repeatedly—and he says, "Since the profit is not fixed, I will buy at the price that suits me," well, that is fine. But why did you fix the price for cash and not raise it, even though it is lawful, and for installments you raised it, even though it is forbidden? Do you understand? So, the scenario you presented is permissible, but we must avoid the issue of deceiving the Muslim and leading him to your will. Is that clear?

The questioner : Regarding this Kuwaiti, if he did not raise the prices on the same goods at one time, and made them all the same, and if a second shipment comes in the future and he puts a one hundred percent profit on it, would that be...

The Shaykh : No, no, he does not have that right. There is no power or strength except with Allah... My brother, this is what we look at in the long term. What did he pay to set this price? The fact that profit in the Shari'ah is permissible and not limited does not resolve the problem of distinguishing between cash and installments.

The questioner : This is riba.

The Shaykh : Here, if the one who paid is this person, he has not benefited from anything.

The questioner : Well, as for the increase, it goes back to his intention...

The Shaykh : Allah knows what is in his intention. That is it.

The questioner : ... Is it permissible for him to take from both?

The Shaykh : Yes, with disclosure it is permissible. That is, you are the broker, I am the seller, and this is the buyer. I come and ask you, "I want land, I want a house." You say, "I have one, but I want five or ten percent from you." You go and talk to the man and say, "This profit or commission, I want it from you." What does he understand from you?

The questioner : ... You give it to someone else.

The Shaykh : Yes. This is not permissible. But when you take a commission proportional to your effort, your toil, your work, and so on, and you distribute it between the two parties, and each party knows from you that you are taking from both of them, and does not know that you are the second one from whom he is taking, and you are going to take the entire difference from him—then with disclosure, disclosure drives out the devil.

The questioner : Disclosure is necessary.

The Shaykh : Disclosure is obligatory to remove deception.

The questioner : ... It is permissible to change it. Until the circumstances change.

The Shaykh : It is permissible to change it. What is the objection? That is, when a person says that the ruling of the Shari'ah is that the profit is not limited, it does not mean that a person should fleece people, because he will be fleeced himself when he wants to raise the profit rate; he will impoverish himself. But when the Shari'ah did not set a profit rate, it is because trade may go up and may go down. Then, as you know, the profit differs regarding the item sold. If the item sold is something people need every day, naturally its profit will be small. And the opposite is the opposite entirely. This is known commercially and economically. And from the wisdom of Allah, the Most Wise, is that He did not impose a specific profit rate, as some people say, quoting some shaykhs, that it is only one-third. There is absolutely no such thing in Islam, and it is not reasonable in reality for there to be such a limitation. Because a person may have something considered an antique, and this may yield multiplied profits, the price being multiplied, and the opposite, like salt, which is an easily available commodity, and so on. For example, merchants complain about rice, saying they make a quarter of a dinar profit per sack, or they do not make a profit. So, the thing that is consumed in large quantities naturally has a lower profit. So, when it is said that the profit is not limited, it does not mean that a person should go ahead and set profits that people cannot bear, because the loss will return to him, because they will leave him and look for someone else. Yes, indeed.